Tractor seat mounting



July 10, 1951 M. c. DETWILER TRACTOR SEAT MOUNTING Filed April 26, 1945Jfig.

% INVENTOR- ATTORNEYS Patented July 10, 1951 TRACTOR SEAT MOUNTING MerleC. Detwiler, New Enterprise, Pa., assignor to The Fate-Root-HeathCompany, Plymouth Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application April 26,1945, Serial No. 590,406 2 Claims. (Cl. 15551) This invention relates totractor seat mountings and more particularly to the mounting means forseats on tractors such as are used for agricultural and industrialpurposes.

One of the inconveniences and discomforts incidental to the operation oftractors of this am aware of the fact that it has been proposed.

to overcome this difficulty by placin a flexible strut underneath theseat. However, in such arrangements the strut in order to be effectivemust be substantially stifi. This, resultsin a hard riding seat addingto the discomfort of the operator.

It is a principal object of my invention to provide a tractor seatsupport which gives a relatively smooth ride under normal conditions butwhich is effective, however, to prevent transmission to the operatorsbody of severe jolts to which the frame of the tractor may be subjected.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a structure of thecharacter described which may be relatively simple to manufacture, may

be produced at a relatively low cost, and is adaptable to a wide varietyof tractor frames.

Other objects of the invention will appear as the description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, said inventionthen comprises the features hereinafter fully described and particularlypointed out in the claims, the following description and the annexeddrawing setting forth in detail certain illustrative embodiments of theinvention, these bein indicative, however, of but a few of the variousways in which the principle of the invention may be employed.

In said annexed drawing: 7

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the rear end of a tractor (with the nearwheel removed) showing one embodiment of my invention; and

Fig. 2 is a plan view of those features of the structure illustrated inFig. l with which my invention is concerned.

Referring now more specifically to the drawing and more especially toFig. 1, my invention is In other 2 wheel 4, and numerous otherillustrated parts which being in no way related to my invention will notbe described in greater detail.

The apparatus which includes the novel features of the present inventioncomprises a shock absorber generally indicated at 5 and which is mountedfor purposes of convenience on the upper side of the transmission anddifferential housing 3. The shock absorber 5 is of conventional designsuch as is used on present-day automobiles and similar vehicles and ispreferably of the type in which fluid friction is employed for thepurpose of damping the reciprocation of a moving part. There are anumber of shock absorbers of this kind on the market. The type ofstructure which maybe employed is like that illustrated for example inU. S. Patent No. 2,321,818.

The shock absorber 5 illustrated in the drawing is of the type includinga transversely extending shaft 6 to which are keyed lever arms I. Itwill be noted that the shock absorber is effective for the purpose ofdamping the reciprocation in a vertical plane of the arms 1 andaccordingly any devices attached thereto.

Secured to the arms i as by weldin or otherwise is the forward end of abeam 8, to the rear end of which there is secured a conventional seat 9.

The beam 8 is supported intermediately of its ends by means of a,compression spring Ill. The spring I0 is connected to the beam 8 bymeans of a bolt II. By providing a plurality of spaced holes such as l2longitudinally of the beam 8, the spring [0 may be secured to the beamat any one of a number of selected positions.

The lower end of the spring I!) may be mounted on any suitable portionof the tractor frame or any appropriate bracket provided for thatpurpose. In the tractor illustrated in the drawing there is a rear powertake-on? mechanism I 3 from which projects a rear power take-off shaftM. In the interests of safety, the shaft I4 is preferably positioned ina housing such as l5 which laterally encloses the shaft but which beingopen at its rear face permits access to the shaft.

In the embodiment of my invention illustrated in the drawing I haveshown the spring Ill mounted on and secured to the housing [5. Byutilizing this arrangement, the operator is precluded from removing thehousing 15 during the normal operation of the tractor, thus insuringthat this safety device will always be in place when the tractor isbeing used.

As previously indicated the shock absorber 5 3 is of such constructionthat it in itself does not function to support the beam 8 in theposition illustrated in the drawing. The primary function of the shockabsorber is for the purpose of damping sudden oscillations orreciprocations of the beam 8 in the vertical plane in which it issupported by means of the spring ID. The entire load imposed on the beam8 is, therefore, normally supported by means of the spring ID. Arelatively soft spring may be employed for this purpose so that when thetractor passes over minor irregularities in the terrain the spring Iwill be effective to absorb substantially all of the shock which wouldotherwise be transmitted tothe seat. When, however, the tractorencounters a substantial obstruction or depression which would otherwiseresult in a sudden and substantial deflection of the spring [0, theshock absorber comes into play and damps the arcuate movement of thebeam 8 as it tends to oscillate in a vertical plane with the shockabsorber as its axis of rotation.

I prefer to employ a beam 8 of sufficient strength and stiffness so thatit will not be deflected to any substantial extent by the loads imposedthereon during normal use so that, during normal operation, all relativemovement between the seat 9 and the frame of the tractor is provided bydeflecting the spring l0. A certain degree of resiliency is, of course,present in the beam 8 which comes into play under only those conditionswhen a very severe and sudden load is placed on the seat 9.

It will be observed that by shifting the bolt Hv to. any one of theplurality of holes [2 the effective-lever arm of the spring It] may beadjusted. This adjustment may be employed for the purpose of changingthe softness of the ride or for the purpose of compensating forsubstantial (inferences in the weight of the operator occupying the seat9.

From the foregoing description it will be observed that I have providedan apparatus capable of satisfying all of the previously enumeratedobjects of this invention.

Other modes of. applying the principle of the invention may be employed,change being made asv regards the details described, provided thefeatures stated in any of the following claims or the equivalent of suchbe employed.

I, therefore, particularly point out and distinctly claim as myinvention:

1. In a tractor of the type which includes a rear power take-offmechanism having an exposed shaft as a hazard under the operator, meansfor protecting and supporting the operator over said shaft including arearwardly opening housing positionable to cover such shaft, a shockabsorber mounted on the tractor and including an element rotatable abouta horizontally disposed axis located forwardly of such housing, arearwardly extending beam having its front end nonrotatably connected tosaid element, a seat mounted on the rear end of said beam, and a coilspring on said housing disposed between said beam and the aforesaidhousing and having its opposite ends respectively fixedly connected tothe housing and longitudinally adjustably connected to said beam.

2. In a tractor of the type which includes a rear power take-offmechanism having an exposed shaft as a hazard under the operator, meansfor protecting and supporting the operator over said shaft including arearwardly opening housing positionable to cover such shaft, a shockabsorber mounted on the tractor and including an element rotatable abouta horizontally disposed axis located above and forwardly of suchhousing, a rearwardly extending beam having its front end non-rotatablyconnected to said element, a seat mounted on the rear end of said beam,and a coil spring on said housing disposed generaliy vertically betweensaid beam and the aforesaid housing and having its opposite endsrespectively fixedly connected to the housing and longitudinallyadjustably connected to said beam.

MERLE C. DETWILER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record" in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 817,682 Werner Apr. 10, 19061,747,932 Dufaux Feb. 18, 1930 1,864,282 Sperry June 21, 1932 2,115,830Thiele May 3, 1938 2,334,922 Gustafson Nov. 23, 1943 2,452,280 ZahllerOct. 26, 1948

